Lantern



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LANTERN Filed Feb. 23. 196e 5 sheets-sheet s nvu'or wing CIN ng #HamasUnited States Patent O 3,471,849 LANTERN Wing G. Cheng, Kowloon, HongKong, assignor to Meyer Manufacturing Company Limited, Kowloon, HongKong Filed Feb. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 529,439 Claims priority, applicationGreat Britain, Sept. 9, 1965, 38,567/ 65 Int. Cl. G08b 23/00 lU.S. Cl.340-321 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A portable lantern has alamp at each end, one of the lamps being wired through a asher unit foremergency use. The lantern has a retractable handle made in two partswhich open out to form a base on which the lantern may be stood.

This invention relates to lanterns.

An object of the invention is to provide a lantern comprising a tubularcasing having a first lamp capable of emitting an ordinary beam at oneend and a second lamp capable of dashing at the other end, a iiasherunit being mounted in said casing and connected to said second lamp, andbulbs for the lamps being located substantially on the longitudinal axisof the casing and substantially at each end of said casing.

The end of the casing having the beam-emittable lamp may be adapted toserve as a base for resting the lantern on a substantially horizontalsurface.

Preferably, the lantern is dry cell operated and electrical connectionssuch as wires and conductor strips are assembled on an insulating memberwhich is detachably tted in the tubular casing.

A device may be provided at the end of the casing having the first lampfor serving as a connection between a battery of dry cells and forholding the cells against contacts on the insulating member when thelantern is assembled.

In a preferred embodiment, a handle is pivotally mounted on the casingat a point intermediate the ends of the latter. The handle may comprisea pair of U-shaped strips which are capable of being moved so that theyare inclined to each other to form a support for the lantern so thatsaid lantern may be placed on a substantially horizontal surface.Preferably, the strips can be opened out to include an angle of about60. The handle may be retracted towards the casing to take up less roomfor transportation or for storage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lantern having acasing in which an insulating member is detachably mounted inside thecasing, the member supporting a switch, a Contact for an electric lampbulb in the lantern and leads from the switch to the contact and to oneterminal of a battery of cells, the member being adapted to support thecells when said cells are accommodated in the casing. Preferably, thelantern is provided with two electric lamp bulbs and the member supportstwo switches and an electric circuit for each lamp bulb.

The insulating member may also support a asher unit, which may betransistorised and which is incorporated in at least one circuit.

The invention will now be further described by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a part-sectional side elevation of one example of a lanternaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. l showing one endof the insulating member,

ice

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the insulating member showing the workingparts assembled thereon,

FIG. 4 is a view of the opposite end of the insulating member to thatshown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 shows the device for holding dry cells in the casing, and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the electrical circuit employed in the lantern.

In the drawings, the lantern comprises a tubular casing 1 having a lamp2 at one end for throwing an ordinary beam, a lamp 3 at the other endconnected to a flasher unit and a pivotally mounted handle 4intermediate its ends. Electrical connections for the lantern areassembled on an insulating member 5 which is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to4. The member 5 is preferably moulded from a synthetic plastics materialand serves to locate four dry cells 6, connected in series, as well asto house tive lead wires 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, four conductor strips 13,14, and 16, negative battery terminal 17, positive battery terminal 18,two single throw sliding switches 19 and 20 and a transistorisedflashing device 35.

All of the lead wires, conductor strips, battery terminals, switches andthe ashing device are assembled on the insulating member 5 which is theninserted into the tubular casing 1 and secured therein by means ofscrews 23. In this position of the member 5, the two switches 19 and 20pass through slots (not shown) in the casing 1.

The device 24 illustrated in FIG. 5 serves to hold the dry cells 6 inthe casing and serves as a connection between the cells. The holder 24is made of synthetic plastics or other insulating material and isprovided with conductor strips 29 and 30 which connect adjacent cells 6.A notch or cut-off portion 31 is also provided in the holder 24 andreceives a tail-piece 32 on the member 5 so that the holder 24 isnon-rotatably held in the casing 1.

An aperture 22 is provided in the centre of the holder I 24 throughwhich the bulb holder 25 of a reliector 26 can project when thereliector is fitted to the casing. The reector is received in ascrew-threaded cap 27 provided with a transparent front preferably madeof glass. The transparent front may be constructed as a lens. The cap 27is secured to the casing 1 by engaging its screw-thread with acorresponding screw-thread 28 formed on the end of the casing 1. Theaperture 22 in the holder 24 permits the cap 27 and hence the reector 26and bulb holder 25 to be iitted to the casing Without rotating theholder 24 which preferably also serves to locate and support thereliector 26 in the casing.

A pre-focus lamp bulb 33 and socket 34 are iitted in the bulb holder 25.The shell contact of the lamp bulb 33 is electrically connected to thecasing 1 and conductor strip 13 is in contact with the central contactof bulb 33.

The other end of the casing 1 is provided with a bulb holder 36 for aiiashable lamp bulb 37 the ashing of which is controlled by means of thetransistorised flashing device 35.

The shell Contact of bulb 37 is electrically connected to the casing 1which is in turn electrically connected, through conductor strip 15, toone terminal of the battery of cells 6. The central contact of bulb 37is electrically connected through conductor strip 14 and lead wire 10 tothe flashing device 35 which comprises two transistors arranged to workin parallel. The transistors are connected to the other terminal of thebattery of cells 6 through switch 20.

The transistors may be of the n-p-n type in which case the casing 1 isconnected to the negative terminal and the transistor control circuit tothe positive terminal of the battery of cells. Alternatively, thetransistors may be of the p-n-p type in which case the casing isconnected to the positive terminal and the transistor control circuit tothe negative terminal of the battery of cells. The former case isillustrated in the drawings. One example of the electric circuit for thelantern in which the n-p-n type of transistors are employed isillustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 6. It will be seen from FIG. 6 thatboth lights may be switched on at the same time.

A transparent lamp shield 38 is provided with a screwthread and issecured to the end of the casing 1 by engaging with a. correspondingscrew-thread 39 on the casing end. The shield 38 will normally becoloured red or orange but other colours are envisaged. Further, theshield may be translucent instead of being transparent.

The handle 4 comprises two U-shaped metal strips 4a and 4b superimposedupon one another and each having slots 40 at the ends of its limbs. Thestrips 4a and 4b are secured together at the end of each limb by rivets45. Each rivet 45 is fitted with a disc washer 44 on the outside ofstrip 4a, a sector piece 43 between the strips and a spring washer 42between the outside of the casing and strip 4b. Each rivet passesthrough a hole in the casing and is secured to the latter by means of asubstantially rectangular spring washer plate 41 on the inside of thecasing. In this way, the strips 4a and 4b are pivotally mounted on thecasing.

The handle may be used for carrying the lantern, in which case thestrips are engaged so that they are aligned and the handle is turned sothat the longitudinal axis of casing 1 is substantially at right anglesto the longitudinal axes of the limbs of the U-shaped strips 4a and 4b.In this position, the lantern may be carried as a normal lantern withits beam extending in a substantially horizontal direction.

The handle may also be used as a stand or support for the lantern. Inthis case, the strips are opened out to the position shown inchain-dotted lines in FIG. 1. The lantern can then be rested on a tableor any convenient horizontal support and the casing pivoted through 360.The sector piece 43 limits the angle to which the strips can be openedout. This angle will normally be about 60.

The slots 40 permit the handle to be retracted for storage. The stripsare aligned and the handle is pivoted to the position in which the limbsof the U-shaped strips are substantially parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the casing 1. The handle can then be pushed towards the `casingso that the rivetsY 45 slide alongl the slots 40. When the handle is soretracted, the lantern takes up less space and thereby facilitatesstorage when the lantern is not in use.

I claim:

1. A lantern comprising a tubular casing, iirst and second lamps locatedsubstantially onthe longitudinal axis of saidcasing and at opposite endsof said casing, respectively, a flasher unit within said casing andconnected to said second lamp, and a handle pivotallyY mounted on saidVcasingintermediate said ends, said handle comprising a pair of U-shapedstrips' capable of being moved so as tov be inclined to one another tovform a s upport for the lantern so that the lantern can be placed on asubstantially horizontal surface, the ends of said strips being slottedso that the handle may be retracted towards said casing when' not in useand `may be drawn out when required for carrying the lantern or to serveas a support.

2. A lantern according toclaim 1 wherein the end of said casing at whichthe first, lamp is located is adapted to serve as a base for resting thelantern on a substantially horizontal surface. n

3. A lantern according to claim 1 furthercomprising a subassemblymounted within said casing, the subassembly including anelectrically-insulating member adapted to locate a plurality of drycells in said casing,said asher unit being mounted on said member. A

4. A lantern according to claim 3 wherein said member carries twoswitches adapted to operate the rst and second lamps, respectively, andthe electrical connections between said cells and said switches.

References' cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,423,911 7/ 1922 Cardwell.2,816,277 12/ 1957 Salkows'ki Z110- 10.63 X 2,918,668v lil/1959 Stube.

JOHN W.CALDWELL, Primary Examiner C. M. MARMELSTEIN, Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R.

